


Children of the Empire

by iam_spock (FanficbyLee)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M, Multi, star trek mirror universe, star trek terran universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-18 21:49:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20320045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficbyLee/pseuds/iam_spock
Summary: Spock is sent to Earth to be fostered by the Emperor. Georgiou has taken up an old practice of raising the children of her court and generals, and even her friendship with Amanda Grayson, the Governor of Vulcan, won't stop her from taking Spock into her home.Georgiou is already raising Michael, and Michael and Spock will grow up side by side in service of the Empire.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story will explore how Spock became the first officer of the ISS Enterprise, and his relationships with Michael, Pike, and Kirk.

A hot wind threw bits of reddish sand against the environmental shields of the Governor’s mansion as the fire storm thundered in from the Forge. The sky was a churning mass of scarlet and crimson, shades of red that reminded Spock of his mother’s human blood. He always thought it strange that Vulcan’s surface and sky was more color-coordinated to Terrans as Earth’s abundant fauna seemed better suited to his green.

While he watched lightning crash in the desert from the safety of the patio, he could hear his parents arguing in the next room. It wasn’t unusual. Amanda Grayson was a stern leader and quite opinionated. Her ties to Georgiou had secured her a position of great power within the Empire, something that served her well and allowed Spock opportunities that few non-humans could gain. Being a half-breed set him apart even more than being the Governor’s child. It made him hated by Terrans and despised by Vulcans—although they’d never admit to feeling such a vile emotion.

His long fingers curled around the dagger he’d earned at his naming ceremony, when he thought he’d proven that he was not weakened by his human DNA but a true Vulcan. But it hadn’t mattered. His father seemed pleased, but he could still see the distrust in the eyes of the rest. Even the female he’d been bonded to as a child, T’Pring, wanted nothing to do with him, which was just as well as far as Spock was concerned. He didn’t want to marry her. He had a dream, and it did not include a cold-hearted Vulcan wife.

“It is too soon!” he heard Amanda snap.

“It is not, and you know it,” Sarek’s voice was calm as always, not that Spock knew what it would sound like otherwise. Occasionally he thought he heard disappointment, but his father was home so seldom that he could not be sure. He had his own duties to the Empire that kept him away more and more. Spock knew his mother loved Sarek, and he assumed his father loved her. If he did not, why would he come back home?

Spock closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he could drop the shield and feel the wind scorch his face. After taking a deep breath and turning on his heels he walked to the door of Amanda’s office. Unlike the rest of the house that was decorated in a Vulcan way, her office was cluttered with bits and pieces of Earth. Her son often wondered if she regretted leaving her home to come to the desert world. But Amanda craved power, like most Terrans.

She had ambitions that she’d shared with him when they’d been far from prying eyes, ears and monitoring equipment. Her loyalty to the Emperor didn’t stop her from looking for a higher status than Governor of Vulcan, and she’d raised Spock to be a weapon forged by her own hand.

“Mother,” he said as he stepped into the office. He logically assumed he was welcome since neither of his parents had closed the door. “Father is correct. I have passed my kahs wan. I have chosen my name—the one you both gave me—which I kept to honor you.” Because no matter how frustrating they could be, he did love his parents. He just didn’t always understand them. “It is time for me to go to Earth, is it not?”

“I had hoped to spare you this,” she said, as she crumped a piece of actual paper between both hands. Spock arched a brow at the sight of the Imperial seal on it. “My position.”

“Your position, as well as Father’s, is why there is no choice.” He was pleased that his voice did not waver. He was both excited and frightened. This was his chance to see more than Vulcan. To be away from the sly glances and curt comments, although he knew he’d be forced to deal with human prejudice once he was on Earth, but on Earth, as an Imperial Fosterling, he’d be able to do something about it. “I am an adult now by Vulcan standards, but I am still a minor according to Terran. I should have reported to the Emperor two years ago, but you managed to delay it. We can no longer do so.”

“It will weaken him in her eyes, my wife,” Sarek said, pointing out the logic Spock had been ready to present to her. “If he is to reach his potential, Spock must be sent to the Emperor.” He turned toward Spock, his beard was freshly trimmed, and he was dressed in the fine robes of a Vulcan noble. Spock didn’t know the specifics of his father’s work for Georgiou, but he knew it was dangerous and complicated.

“I don’t like it.” Amanda set the ball of paper on the desk and began to smooth it out once more. Spock thought it illogical since it would never be flat again, but he assumed it was inappropriate to destroy a letter from the Emperor. “She wants you on the next ship to Earth. That means you leave at dawn tomorrow.” 

That soon.

“I will pack the necessities,” Spock told her, his hands folded behind the small of his back while he waited for her to give him permission to leave the room. He might’ve entered without asking for it, but now he felt the need to behave properly. “Mother, father, I shall serve my duty to the Empire, and I will learn all that I can while serving the Emperor. But my first loyalty will always be to you both.”

“We know it is, Spock,” Amanda answered as she stepped around her heavy desk and touched the side of his face.

He could sense her love with the simple touch and a hint of her thoughts brushed against his mind. The temptation to form a permanent bond was strong, but their lives were too dangerous to allow it. If something happened to either, the other might be harmed, and he’d sworn to keep his telepathic abilities a secret like the rest of his father’s people. If the Empire knew, Vulcan would be wiped clean like so many other alien worlds that were a threat to the Terrans.

“Take two bags,” Sarek said. His posture identical to his son’s. Neither of them showing a fraction of the emotions they were both feeling.. “We will send more to you when your mother goes to Earth next.”

“That seems logical. Mother, Father,” he said, with a nod to his mother, he exited the room. Once in the hallway, he concentrated on making sure his pace was at the same speed as it normally was. He needed to appear ready for the next step of his life. He could not show any of the nervousness he could feel in the pit of his stomach.

At the top of the stairs, he looked down at the main floor of the only home he’d ever known. Through the floor to ceiling windows, he could see the dregs of the storm in the distance over the Forge, and wondered if he’d ever see another.

“Spock?” said his personal servant from the door to his room.

“Pack my essentials into two bags, Keers. I leave for Earth in the morning.”

“How long will you be gone? Am I to go with you?” The gray haired woman who’d helped raise him asked. Her pale blue eyes were filled with concern that she didn’t bother trying to hide. Keers was the most emotional Vulcan Spock had ever met, and he would miss her horribly.

“No, I am going alone.”

He gripped the railing and took several breaths memorizing each inch he could see just in case he never came back. Fostering was an archaic human custom from their Dark Ages, where a person of power took in the children of their underlings to raise. It was meant to create willing, loyal subjects, but Spock knew its true purpose. He would become the Emperor’s hostage, and she would use him to control his parents.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spock is taken to Earth on an Imperial yacht along with two other fosterlings.

He would have preferred to fly his own ship to Earth, but Spock’s arrival required a level of pomp and circumstance that he could not avoid. The Emperor sent one of her private vessels to gather him from ShiKahr. Neither of his parents saw him off. They’d said their goodbyes that morning, before sunrise, after a sleepless night. His stomach was a churning mess of nerves, and the Imperial ship was warping toward the Terran home world before he felt like he could eat without throwing up.

It would take four days to reach the Sol System. He had that long to immerse himself in the materials Amanda had programmed into his data-slate. Court politics were as dangerous a game as his Kahs-wan, if not more so. If he thought he was raised under a microscope on Vulcan, it would be incomparable to how he would be watched in the Imperial Court. He would be forced to play a game he was unfamiliar with—making allies and perhaps friends. If he failed, the doctors that made his birth possible might finally get to dissect him.

Spock was a loner. The only son of the highest official on Vulcan and a half-breed. Most of his childhood had been spent under doctors’ supervision while they kept his warring DNA from tearing him apart. He wasn’t the only Vulcan/Human hybrid, but he was the first to make it past puberty. His long fingers rubbed at the spots on his forearms where he’d been subjected to round after round of monthly injections. He hated doctors because of it, and once he’d grown past the need of their constant hovering, he avoided any medical procedures unless he had no choice.

Now he’d be forced to crack his shell. He needed to let someone in, or at least appear to be open to another living being. Leaning back in the plush seat in his cabin, his dark eyes focused on the files of the other fosterlings, attempting to find the logical choice to ensure not only his survival but to assist him in reaching his goal.

A goal neither his mother nor father approved of, Spock had no intention of taking his mother’s place on Vulcan. Had no desire to become an agent of the empire’s covert operations like his father. Spock had other plans. He wanted to enter Starfleet. Away from Earth. Away from Sarek and Amanda. Away from the Emperor, he hoped to find his true place in the universe. In space he’d be free, or as free as anyone could be in the empire.

There were two more fosters on the ship who had been gathered before him. Both were human. One the child of the Governor of Andoria, a male named Imzar, and the other the oldest child of Admiral Brett Anderson. He read over their files and their parents on his first day in space, finding Davina Anderson to be the better choice. A tie to Starfleet was far more useful to Spock than another diplomat. If he wanted to be tied to a planet, it would not be covered in snow.

“Spock,” an Andorian said as they entered his cabin with a tray of food and a carafe of water. They appeared female, but Spock was uncertain which of the two female aspects they were. He found Vulcan’s old enemies fascinating with their four sexes and complex mating rituals that were far more public than any Vulcan would allow. Much like their inherent telepathy, Vulcans did not speak of Pon Farr.

“Thank you,” he answered, setting his tablet aside to make room for the tray. Its screen instantly blanking out when he stopped touching the device in order to protect his privacy. His files were written in Vulcan, but one never could tell what languages others could read. Especially an Andorian—they were never to be trusted. “Please invite Ms. Anderson to join me for my meal if she has not already eaten.”

“Yes, sir.” He allowed the Andorian to pour him a glass of water before sending her on her way.

The water was from Earth. Of the planets he’d visited in his sixteen years, Earth had the best water. It was crystal clear and sweet, with none of the recycled taste that was usually there on space voyages, and the vegetarian meal on the tray was just as fresh. He might not be happy about being a hostage to the Emperor, but it would be illogical to complain about the food.

It took Anderson twelve minutes to arrive at his door. Technically Spock outranked her as a planetary governor’s position was above an admiral’s, but Spock saw no reason to flaunt it so he stood as the young female entered, followed by a Kelpien server with a tray laden with meat and tubers. The Vulcan hoped the slave wasn’t serving his own kind.

_Were Vulcans lucky that they didn’t taste good? _

“Thank you for joining me,” he said as they settled down.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Davina answered, raking her fingers through her closely cropped pale hair before picking up her fork. “Your lunch didn’t get cold, did it?”

“It was cold to begin with,” Spock said, poking his fork into a sliced melon of some sort. It was sweet and tangy. “Do you know what this is?”

“Not a clue. I’m a carnivore.” The blond cut a strip of the meat and popped it into her mouth, eyes closing while she savored the flavor. “Hope we get fed this well on Earth. My father tells me the Emperor will be hard on us but that it’ll be worth it.”

“As did my parents.” They ate in silence for several minutes while the servants waited to remove the plates and refilled their glasses. Spock found the hovering annoying. Keers saw to his needs, but it hadn’t been like this. She was more a governess and less a maid.

“I’m not sure why they picked me. The Admiral said he threw his officer’s dagger at a family portrait, and it hit me. I thought it’d be my younger brother, and I’d go straight into the Academy.”

“I am an only child. No daggers were needed. Your father is a hero of Starfleet. I’m sure you’ll be permitted to enter the Academy when the Emperor releases you.” And Spock prayed to his ancestors that he’d be able to do the same. “I am certain he’s had many adventures.”

***

Four days later, Spock was standing on the small observation deck, watching as the ship traveled along the rings of Saturn. There were no ringed planets in Vulcan’s star system, and he found them beautiful. He also found the science of their formation fascinating. He hoped to be allowed to pursue his scientific interests on Earth, but he understood that might not be possible. Tactical abilities seemed to be the priority for most Terrans or politics.

The other two fosters were on the deck as well. Imzar was dressed in an opulent fur trimmed gown. Spock could see it being highly impractical to wear such a dress on the snowy world, but there was little logic involved in fashion in his limited experience. His only ambition seemed to be to find a husband, and Spock found him to be horribly dull in their few encounters on the trip.

“I don’t suppose you’re excited, Spock?” Davina asked as she leaned closer to the viewport to press her hand against the transparent aluminum. “In a few hours, we get to take a shuttle down to San Francisco and the palace.”

“Excitement is an emotion,” Spock pointed out his Vulcan mask firmly in place. He was excited. How could he not be? But Davina and Imzar didn’t need to know that. “You both seemed to be enthusiastic enough for the three of us.” The way they were bouncing about reminded Spock of sehlat cubs.

“Vulcan,” Imzar scoffed. “Never any fun.” His Imperial standard was heavily accented which Spock found one of the few interesting things about him although he assumed it was an act to appear exotic.

“Fun is not a requirement.” He slipped into the role he’d watched Sarek play his entire life that was the man made of stone. No amount of sun, wind, or rain would break his hold on his emotions. Logic would be his guide, and it would serve him and his ambitions well. Besides, there was no reason to let either of them see that beneath his stoic mask he had a wicked sense of humor and was quite cunning—as he should be.


End file.
